NinjaDiscoPunch

Agreed, I don't mind playing with the ride in the old position. I'm sure he's adjusted just fine considering the videos I've seen

At the end of the day, Neil is embracing his past and present kit set ups, and I love that... even if I love the old kits more! ...though I will say a big drum kit actually looks big with two bass drums!

It really is amazing to see him with twin bass drums again. I always thought his new kits looked small with only one, but that's Neil's choice and I love his playing either way. It appears to be mimicking the 24" years, rather than Chromey, but I think the finish is a nod to it at least. Very very cool nonetheless. I do think it's surprising he's using LP timbales rather than something DW made, plus the temple bells... so old school haha. Links just in case someone browsing doesn't want it to be spoiled... From the front: http://cygnus-x1.net....08.2015/48.jpg And above-ish: http://cygnus-x1.net....08.2015/29.jpg

We can go from boom to bust, from dreams to a bowl of dust...

That would be awesome! Oh, what the heck! I'll do it, even if it takes me a Xanadu-lifetime to get it done!

I haven't read of them doing it outside the Japan shows. Those might have been a special case because Tama is based in Japan, sand the drums are harder to move than the guitars and stuff. Not sure about the lighting system though. A fan with his own website here http://www.andrewols...il_drumkits.htm has an amazing amount of information on each of Neil's kits, using information from the tour books and the Chromey Restoration Project (http://www.andrewols...its/chromey.htm). There's an anecdote by Neil (which I assume also comes from the tour book) on the page about the 30th Anniversary Kit, about what happened after the Rio de Janeiro show involving what appears to be the Vapor Trails kit (which was also used on Test for Echo): "...Even the drum riser had to be rebuilt, after it was demolished during loadout after the Rio de Janeiro show (fortunately the last show of the Vapor Trails tour). Upended on a flatbed truck, the riser was being ferried to the semi-trailers outside the stadium, when the driver failed to notice that his load was higher than the exit. Just like in a cartoon, the whole big assembly flew off the back and went "boom." "After that Rio show (I've been dying to tell this story somewhere), we also had to leave behind the carpet that covered the stage (40' by 24', with the Vapor Trails logo in the middle). It had absorbed so much rain over those three shows in Brazil, it was too heavy to ship back to Canada. Apparently it finally dried out, decorated a Brazilian home awhile, then appeared on eBay." Couple this with the fact that Rush has increased in their popularity, and therefore wealth, it's logical to me that they would have used the Vapor Trails kit in Brasil, a whole 5,100 miles away. They were attempting to transport the drum riser, and the rug, so my guess is they can now afford to move Neil's whole kit. They probably could have with the Japan show, too, but y'know. Most certainly Europe. But, wait a minute?? Hemispheres was recorded, as far as I know, in South Wales in the United Kingdom. That's about 3,500 miles away from Toronto, and Neil still had his big Blakrome kit from A Farewell to Kings. So here's another possibility, something I hadn't even considered now, is what if Japan's import or shipping laws barred the band from bringing all of their equipment, and therefore had to slim down their show to get into the country? It would make sense to me. Cut the drums, and have another one made at Tama's HQ in Japan. It might have been that in order to have all the drums shipped in, they would have to be done in small groups or individual shipments due to the size of the flight cases, and that might have taken too long and thrown off the tour schedule. But what do I know? Someone else might have a better opinion on this and the whereabouts of the replica. Thoughts?

That's awesome! I haven't seen them live ever, and they've performed more in my home state of Idaho more than they've visited the reaches of Asia. (I hope this works) This is a partial version of YYZ and the drum solo from November 21, which is of course the night they performed at Budokan Hall in Tokyo. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ccf3lKtfqgU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> There it is, that elusive mystery set that was there and then went *POOF!* I'm fascinated by Neil' Caress of Steel-Presto setup, but especially this four-show kit that seems to be a myth and a reality all at the same time! Sigh... I'll probably end up obsessing over that thing until one day I solve the mystery. I'll spend years talking to people, hunting down roadies and hitting them with 100,000 questions, and wind up marching right up to the owner of Hoshino-Gakki (or whoever) and demanding to see it! For all I know, one of the people in the audience, or the stadium owner, probably packed it away and took it home when the lights went out! Or it was thrown in the trash with that night's soda cups. Then one day, in an awe-inspiring Indiana Jones fashion, I'll find it locked away in a stronghold in some faraway land, dust caked all over the shells and hardware corroding, and take possession of it, only to discover all I had to do was read one of the many biographies about them and *BAM!* there it is. And then I will feel silly. Or someone on the forum will read this and reply stating what happened to it and then tell me what happened to it. Then I'll feel even more silly for writing a novel here. Speaking of books, someone ought to write a book not about their careers (since it's still unfolding today), but the history of all their equipment and instruments they've used over it's entirety, complete with diagrams, 360-degree photos, and what remains of past kits today. Might as well be me!

So, Japan. Rush went there once during the 1984 Grace Under Pressure tour. I don't know much about the GUP tour in general, but there seems to be a bit of mystery surrounding the Japan leg of it. What I'm talking about has to do with the equipment used. If this is something I could learn reading the books, I apologize, but I seem to come up with a new question about Neil's kits that needs to be answered every day! This could be something everyone else knows, but here goes... This link http://broonsbane.tr...om/rushneil.htm takes us to a webpage detailing the history of Neil Peart's Tama Artstar prototype drums that were used between 1982 to 1985, within the 1984 GUP Japan tour fell. However, the page mentions that "When Rush played their first and only Japanese concerts in late 1984, Hoshino-Gakki spared Neil the travel expense, by building a replica set sans brass-plating and vibra-fibing. Neil needed to only bring his hardware, heads and cymbals." http://broonsbane.tripod.com/neilsdrumsbacks.jpg I'm inclined to believe the kit is/was real, since Hoshino-Gakki is the owner of the Tama-brand drum name, but I haven't heard or read anything about them outside that page. So my questions are: Can anyone confirm this? What became of the kit following those four shows?

Okay, I think I know what we're talking about now. It's not super-detailed, but you can see what does appear to be a crotale in this shot here: http://andrewolson.com/Neil_Peart/drums/images/NeilPW.jpg (I mean aside from the ones blatantly in front of the camera like they just don't care!) It's between the hi hat, the leftmost rack tom, and the lowest concert tom. Looks like it's mounted to his stage left bass hop the same way his splash and crash are mounted on the front, with a little clamp and metal arm. I use something similar to attach a 5" cowbell to my bass drum. So a single-note crotale in F#, huh? It does appear to be the same in both songs, (on YYZ it moves around from speaker to speaker, though). I'll probably take my hardware and related questions to a drumming forum of some sort. Thanks guys!

More importantly, a Hemispheres/YYZ related question. A silly technical question, but it's bugging me a little. First, Hemispheres. So, at the minute-59 mark of the song, we hear a distinct twinkling sound with a galloping kind of rhythm, like a triangle or something. And Neil Peart did have triangles on his set around that time... http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7134/7526506168_efc527af22_z.jpg But there are other percussion items on his set that could make a similar sound. He had crotales mounted atop his tubular bells... http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2097/2126130903_e0cd40a8fd_z.jpg?zz=1 ...there was a set of orchestra bells in the ballpark of his timbales and concert toms... http://stupuola.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/neil-peart.jpg ...and possibly the bell of his ride cymbal (although I am skeptical of this). I am leaning more towards the crotales, but they seem inconvenient due to their placement, since at the 2:06 mark he moves over to the hi hats with the same rhythm, and that would be a considerable distance to travel in such short time! The orchestra bells would seem more likely, but then again... Another question: What note/pitch/tone/whatever is it exactly? I would like to make the addition of the mystery percussion to my current kit, but I want to know exactly what it is I need to buy so I don't end up with a kit bigger than Neil's! I know crotales each have a different tune/note, so I want that one, not thirteen! Is there any way we can figure it out if we haven't already? The same goes for the sound at the very beginning of YYZ. I just can't think of what it is. I am leaning more towards triangle on this one, but the question still stands...

Well, that makes much more sense!That's pretty cool, though. I kind of get him coming up with the strings and piano in CA, but I didn't know about the drum machine! Agreed, the record guys could probably make a killing off of them too. I would and wouldn't be surprised if we saw those released in the future. I mean, Led Zeppelin released Coda, after they lost Bonzo, and it was pretty much outtakes and unreleased stuff, so Rush could easily get away with doing the same!

This is going to sound really strange, but just hear me out, ok? I had a friend in school who told me that he heard somewhere that Alex Lifeson did the drumming on Rush demo tapes. This is not something I'd ever heard before, and I'm somewhat skeptical since anything I've searched has turned up blank, with the exception of a page on tvtropes about Rush (http://tvtropes.org/...?from=Main.Rush . Somewhere around "Hidden Depths"). I'm inclined to believe that this is where he read it to begin with, but it just doesn't sound right. It just seems too hair-brained to be true, but maybe I don't know about Rush as I thought I did! Can anyone confirm this?

There's a Dutch band called the Golden Earring that's been plugging away since '61. Rush has been around since what, '68? And they've been touring on a fairly regular basis, with a hiatus or two. My thoughts are they will tour until their induction into the Hall of Fame, go on a tour following their induction (the "Limelight" tour, perhaps, given all the attention they've been getting recently...). Then they'll crank out a few singles, one of which is easily recognizable due to a slight deviation from the usual Rush sound, then totally blow us all away in 2020 with another BIG release. Like, 'three albums in one' big, to justify an eight-year break. With eight instrumentals. At this point maybe we've invented some way to extend human life to, say 300 years (or not). So Rush regains their late-70s youth and annihilate the music industry with their 144th anniversary album and several supporting tours, and they'll continue endlessly rocking...

I grew up listening to a few songs off "Chronicles", so I always thought "Finding My Way" Rush was the same as "Tom Sawyer" Rush and "Show Don't Tell" Rush. I wasn't aware that it was a compilation album, so I thought they had a drastic and hugely varied sound on each album (boy was I wrong!). That meant that when I started listening to "Vapor Trails", the only other Rush album I had at the time, I was not entirely surprised or overwhelmed by its supposedly 'loud' sound. For that reason, I can't rank these albums based on 'sound', but how much I enjoy them. So, here we go, my album rankings and my favorite cuts: 1. Vapor Trails - This is the reason I listen to Rush. Every song is a gift to mankind. 2. Caress of Steel - Yes, that's right. "The Necromancer" is just wonderful. 3. Test For Echo - My friend gave me his MP3 player, which I listened to during summer school in '07, but I never knew it was Rush, until I heard "Virtuality" recently. 4. Rush - I'm not going to lie. "Need Some Love", for when I need a pick-me-up. 5. Moving Pictures - Without "Tom Sawyer", I would not be complete. 6. Signals - "Digital Man" is amazing. I don't know why everyone could live without it. 7. A Farewell to Kings - Does anyone else listen to "Cygnus X-1" when playing Star Fox? No? Well "Madrigal" needs some attention, too... 8. Hemispheres - Because you can't finish "Book I" without "Book II". 9. Fly By Night - Actually, "Anthem" is why I bought a drum set. 10. Counterparts - "Speed of Love" offers excellent contrast in terms of sound versus the rest of the alum. 11. 2112 - "Lessons" and "Something for Nothing" are very relaxing after that mind-blowing title track. 12. Permanent Waves - Only because of "Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill". 13. Roll the Bones - "Dreamline". 'Nuff said. 14. Clockwork Angels - "Headlong Flight" makes for some good rocking... 15. Snakes and Arrows - ...so does "Far Cry". 16. Grace Under Pressure - I honestly thought the title meant someone named Grace was in a pickle until I read Hemmingway. "Kid Gloves" and "Distant Early Warning" deserve more recognition. 17. Presto - "Show Don't Tell" was on Chronicles. 18. Hold Your Fire - Don't have it yet, but "Time Stand Still" defined it for me. 19. Power Windows - "Big Money" is enjoyable, but the synths keep it from being higher on the list. 20. Feedback - Just a cover album, but I like "Summertime Blues", "Seven and Seven is", "The Seeker" and "For What it's Worth" more than the originals. Like I said, I don't really have a favorite, since I grew up with "Chronicles" and thought it was a studio album. But in all honesty, "Power Windows" is the only one I have ANY complaints about, and that's just because of the synth use, which was pretty standard in the 1980s anyways.

T4E is that album's opening track and completely made the one of my first impressions of Rush when I got into their music. The fact that I was unaware of Rush's existence until 2010, plus the fact that Test For Echo got dropped after it's debut, makes me writhe in anguish that it may never be played live. Should it come back? Heck yes. If they brought it back with that 'Testing...Testing' intro, I would just...gah, I don't even know, I'd lose it or something!

I tell a lot of people "One Little Victory" (mostly for THE RETURN OF THE PROFESSOR), but in all honesty, "Earthshine" is the song that got me hooked on Rush to begin with (the rest of Vapor Trails is a close second). It's just an amazing song! The chorus was what caught my attention, because of how it contrasts with the rest of the song in my opinion.

Need Some Love. Probably one of the most underrated Rush songs of all time. I think it's because they became so technical that it gets tossed aside as another uncreative boogie rock song. The chugging backbeat, the groove; it's lack of experimentation is why it goes on quietly unnoticed as one of their pariahs. I think of it as not only my favorite from the first album, but easily one of my favorite Rush songs ever (despite Neil's absence). It is so simple and playful. It's short. It's sweet. It's fun. Besides, the whole first album is awesome! I'm just taking the side of this unappreciated little gem, which I love very much.

The 70's. I'd love to hear , Fly By Night, and Caress of Steel in their entirety! But it's okay, they won't be announcing a farewell tour until long after their 144th anniversary.